Maybe that’s how Rod Slifer sees himself, but the much-too-modest description that he gave at the 2013 Colorado Business Hall of Fame dinner doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to all he has done for his beloved Vail and the state’s tourism industry.

In addition to Slifer and his wife, Beth, creative director and chief executive officer of Slifer Designs, the 2013 Business Hall of Fame inductees were cable and distance-learning pioneer Glenn Jones; Don Kortz, chairman of Cassidy Turley Colorado, which is the nation’s fourth-largest commercial real estate firm; entrepreneur and mentor Ron Montoya, a past national chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and the late architect Temple Hoyne Buell. Buell came to be known as the Father of the American Shopping Mall after developing the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, the nation’s first, in 1951.

Slifer was Vail’s first Realtor, establishing Slifer & Co. when he moved to Vail in 1962. Twenty-seven years later, with his friends Harry Frampton and Mark Smith, he formed what has become the Vail Valley’s largest and most prolific real estate brokerage, Slifer Smith & Frampton.

He was a key force in taking the picturesque village from ski area to mega-resort; served 16 years on the Vail Town Council and 11 years as mayor; and was a founding director of Alpine Banks of Colorado.

The 1,100 guests were welcomed by the event’s leadership team: Junior Achievement and the Denver chamber presidents Robin Wise and Kelly Brough, and selection committee chair John Freyer, the president of Land Title.

Twenty who’d been inducted in previous years were on hand for the festivities emceed by Gregg Moss of 9News. They included University of Colorado president Bruce Benson; ski industry great Jerry Groswold; developer Jordon Perlmutter; beer maker Pete Coors; retired printer Barry Hirschfeld; retired financial industry giants Walt Imhoff and Harry Lewis; and dairy men Dick and Eddie Robinson.

Detailed biographies of this year’s inductees can be found on the Junior Achievement website. (JAColorado.org)

Joanne Davidson was The Denver Post's society editor for 29 years before retiring in July 2015. She quickly discovered she wasn't ready for the rocking chair, so she dusted off her evening gowns and returned to the paper as a freelance reporter, writing feature stories and covering charitable fundraising events in the metro area.